On Forgiveness Sunday, OCU activists cut locks on the temple in Berezhnitsa

OCU supporters violated all agreements and seized the UOC church in Berezhnitsa in the presence of the police and the head of the village council

On March 10, Forgiveness Sunday, adherents of the new “Ukrainian Church” broke into the Archangel Michael Church in the village of Berezhnitsa, Chernovtsy region, having cut locks on it, reports the press service of the Chernovtsy-Bukovina Eparchy of the UOC on its Facebook page.

"There is no greater ‘love’ than cutting locks on Forgiveness Sunday ...," stressed in the eparchy and asked for holy prayers for the religious community of the seized church in Berezhnitsa.

It is noted that the initiative group gathered on the church territory on Sunday morning did not allow the UOC priest Konstantin, the rector of the church, to hold the Divine Liturgy. Among them was Vasily Solomko, head of the Banilov village council. The reason was "we changed our mind".

Instead, Father Konstantin was offered to move to the OCU, which the clergyman resolutely refused, saying that he would not betray Christ.

A police patrol was called to the scene, under whose supervision the initiative group cut off the church locks.

As it became known, instead of the Holy Liturgy, a volleyball match took place in Berezhnitsa on Forgiveness Sunday, in which Vasily Solomko and tough guys, who “accidentally” arrived on a school bus from Banilov to Berezhntsa and took an active part in storming the church and beating the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, participated.

We recall that prayer standing for the Orthodox faith in Berezhnitsa lasted for 19 hours. On March 7, at about 7:00, the assault of the temple began, as a result of which the parishioners received bodily injuries. The confrontation ended only on the night of March 8, after the head of the village council sealed the temple.

As a result of prayer standing, a general agreement was reached between the UOC religious community, the head of the village of Banilov Vasily Solomko and OCU supporters: the parties agreed that on Sunday, March 10, Father Konstantin would serve the Divine Liturgy in the church and perform all the services until the court decided otherwise.

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